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Why you ask?!? Well, 2 words…FOOD COMA! This is courtesy of BJ’s Brewhouse for Foodie Friday! If you’re not familiar with their food, think of a less fancy version of The Cheesecake Factory, but just as decadent. Besides their award winning beers (which we of course didn’t have here at the office, boo!), they’re also known for their deep dish pizzas and Pizookies! If you don’t know what a Pizookie is, it’s basically a giant cookie baked in a deep dish tray and topped with ice cream and whipped cream (and they have a variety of scrumptious flavors!). Our Marketing Dept. decided to share the Cookies ‘N Cream Pizoooookkiiee. Oh man…

Needless to say, this place was a winner for the most part. Most people gave BJ’s Brewhouse an above average score, equating to a 4 star rating. The highest rated dishes were the Classic Combo Pizza, Buffalo Chicken Mini Pizza, Grilled Chicken Pasta, Crispy Jalapeno Burger, Maui Glazed Pork Chop, and of course their Pizookies!

Here are a few mouthwatering teasers…

On the other hand, there was one dish that didn’t quite get a good review. This was the Vegetarian Mini Pizza, which was given 2.5 stars. Apparently, the topings were good, but the crust was a bit too spongy and squishy for their liking. Hmmm, maybe if BJ’s would’ve put it back in the oven a little longer, it would’ve worked out better.

Anyway, it’s about time for me to get that afternoon caffeine fix to zap me out of this zombie state. I’m sure most of us in the office agree that this sluggish feeling was well worth the yummy in my tummy satisfaction! So, if you’re feeling hungry and are willing to take a nap after, hit up BJ’s Brewhouse!

It’s Friday…and you know what that means here at the InMotion west coast office…Foodie Friday!

I was out of the office with family last week, which meant a non-stop food fest (’cause that’s just what we do I guess heh). So this week, I tried my best to keep my lunch order somewhat healthy to make up for the past weekend of binging.

And, of course, the food choice of the day was Islands, infamous for their delicious 1000+ calorie burgers and fries…ugh, this was a bit of torture! I mean who can resist a juicy burger topped with onion rings and a side of cheese smothered fries!?!

Whelp…I did. So I ordered the Northshore Chicken Tacos, with no cheese. BORING! And even worse, their corn tortillas tasted like salted rubber. I gave this dish 2.5 stars. I would’ve gave it a slightly higher rating if the tortillas didn’t suck. So FYI, if you’re going to order tacos from Islands, opt for the flour tortillas instead. On the other hand, maybe I should’ve gotten the Baja Chicken Soft Tacos (with flour tortillas of course), which actually received a higher average rating of 3.75 stars.

In addition to another non-burger item ordered, the Moa Kai (white albacore tuna salad) sandwich didn’t fare so well with a 2 star rating. On the other hand, surprisingly those who ordered burgers gave mixed reviews, with the turkey burgers getting the higher ratings. They tend to under cook their beef patties, so beware when asking for a specific preparation. So overall, we gave Islands a 3.25 star rating.

I don’t know about everyone’s experience this time around, but I’ve had a couple of Islands’ burgers in the past, and they’ve both been pretty good. So maybe Islands has an issue with consistency. Hmm, well maybe you’ll have better luck trying them out yourself.

But bottom line, if you’re gonna get food from a burger joint, order a burger of some sort and don’t go if you plan on being on a diet!

Today’s rainy, gloomy weather here in Los Angeles is quite fitting for the infamous Friday the 13th! The closest thing to seeing black cats around the office was seeing a few creepy black crows circling past the windows seemingly looking for food. Yikes! Guess they can smell our food coming…or is it another type of food they’re looking for (IE – humans)…aaahhh!!! Okay…I think I’ve been watching too many zombie flicks hehe.

Well besides the flying version of black cats and the sideways rain hitting the windows, it was quite a sight to see the food delivery guy in his soaked sweatshirt bringing in 3 huge, rain-covered food carriers into the office. Poor guy, he should’ve called us down to give him a hand! Too bad we missed the chance of a great photo op. He looked like an ant carrying things twice his size!

On to the food ratings. Our champ delivery guy today came from Tower Pizza located in Westchester, about 10 minutes away from the office. This was another new pick for us this week. And a great choice it was! The office average rating for this place was a whopping 4 stars! Guess you really can’t go wrong with good ol’ pizzas, burgers and such. For the most part, everyone that ordered a pizza gave it a 4 star rating. The toppings people ordered were the common pepperoni, sausage, black olives, mushrooms, etc. Good stuff!

Another highly rated dish from this place was their fish and chips. This was ordered by our very own British coworker who found it to be a tasty, nostalgic dish that even included a side of vinegar, “just the way the Brits like it” she said hehe.

On the other hand, the Tower Hot Pastrami sandwich was the lowest rated dish. This dish was ordered by 2 people, who gave it a 2.5 and 3.5 star ratings, giving it an average of 3 stars. Their pastrami was a bit too salty for their liking. So this can be a risky pick if you’re new to pastrami or know what good pastrami tastes like.

As with many of the other places we’ve gotten delivery from, the food temperature seems to always be an issue. Basically, food is better straight from the kitchen. However, with the exception of pizza, some people even prefer it cold. Honestly, I’m not one of them. However, the quality and taste of their pizza sold me anyway!

Maybe when you actually go to the restaurant and get a fresh pizza, it would look more like this…

Foodie Friday is back! But this Friday is quite a special Friday for us InMotion Hosters here at he NEW LA office! Tonight’s the official “housewarming” for the new space!

With much anticipation for tonight’s festivities, we started off by keeping our lunch selection close to home and tried out one of the handful of choices in the food court across the street. I must say, we’re pretty lucky to have a solid selection of tasty treats just a hop, skip, and a jump away.

So far we’ve tried Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill, who thankfully kept their consistency and didn’t let us down with their famous fish tacos. So this time around it was time to try out the next spot, which was the Hummus Factory…

For being a food court joint…not bad. Not bad at all. Well at least that’s my opinion. The majority of the office, including myself, ordered the Chicken Kabob Plate, which received a 4 star rating among those who ordered it. Guess this place knows how to season and grill their chicken kabobs heh. In addition, our fellow lone vegetarian in the office also recommended his order, the Fattoush Salad, which according to him was “fresh and tasty!”

Chicken Kabob Plate

On the other hand, one dish in particular didn’t fare so well, well at least to the one person that ordered it. This was the Lula Kabob Sandwich. Hmmm, well ground beef on a stick seems to be a tricky dish to get right, judging from our past experience with Jino’s Pars.

Well, since there were different experiences with different dishes, we gave the Hummus Factory an overall rating of 3.5 stars. So if you’re looking for something quick and healthy in the Howard Hughes Center, definitely check out the Hummus factory for their Chicken Kabob Plate, or if you like to stick to veggies, check out the Fattoush Salad.

Welp, now it’s time to prepare for the InMotion west coast’s “Grand Opening,” so until the next Foodie Friday!

When working for a tech company, it’s pretty inevitable that you’ll run into a few tech gadget early adoptors. In our case, we have plenty of Apple enthusiasts that just “have to have” the latest releases of their products. If you’re an Apple enthusiast yourself or are simply aware of the latest Apple craze, then you know about the new iPad hype.

Well here at our office, our Director of Sales and Marketing, Bob, beat the rest of us to it. He purchased the new iPad during the online presale and received it on March 16th, the official retail release date. Guess it’s the better way to go to avoid standing in line with all the other Apple fanatics! However, it turned out that the line at the Manhattan Beach Apple store wasn’t too bad, according to another Apple enthusiast in the office who went out and bought the new Apple TV digital media receiver on his lunch break! Talk about Apple envy…he “had to have” a new Apple product as well!

I myself just joined in on the Apple craze and got the iPhone 4S a couple of months ago. Needless to say, it’s my new addiction…

Welcome to the second installment of InMotion Hosting’s Foodie Friday! Today’s pick, Jino’s Pars, was an interesting mixture of a two in one restaurant. By interesting I mean Persian and Italian food, with two separate menus. But since we’re in LA, it’s actually not that strange of a combination being that we have restaurants around here where you can get Louisiana Fried Chicken and Chinese food at the same place. Go figure!

This week, we changed up our rating scale a bit and made it to a more functional 1 to 5 star rating system (a la Yelp). Needless to say, this week’s pick got a slightly above average score of 3.5 stars, which just so happens to be the same rating that users gave it on Yelp. This rating is the outcome of an equal amount of employees ordering from each menu. With that being said, the Pars (Persian) menu didn’t fare as well with the masses as the Jino’s (Italian) menu. Not shocking, I mean, who doesn’t like Italian food?!?

The main dish that employees ordered from the Pars menu was the Beef Kabob Koobideh Lunch Special, which got a below average rating. Most people didn’t quite know what they were getting with this dish if they weren’t familiar with Persian food or the likes. The meat kind of looked like, well, I’ll let the picture speak for itself…

Now for the Jino’s menu, it’s funny that both the highest and lowest rated dishes were from the same menu. The highest rated dishes were the very tasty Ricotta Gnocci sauteed with shrimp, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes in a garlic and butter sauce. Delicious! The other highly favored dish was The Catch Lunch Special with salmon. Both dishes were said to be “one of the best lunches they’ve ever had!”

Now on the opposite end, the Mediterranean Trio, which was actually in the Jino’s menu (though it seemed more like a Persian dish to us) was the lowest rated dish/appetizer. This dish REALLY lacked flavor. But on a surprising note, one of the hidden treasures of this place is…wait for it…wait for it…Pizza Fries! Yes, Pizza Fries! It’s not on the menu, but it’s an easy fix. Just order some fries and ask to have marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese melted/baked on top! Brilliant, and oh soooo good! (However, if you do get this dish, eat it at the restaurant. It doesn’t quite travel well with delivery.)

Okay, okay calming down now…So to sum things up, if you’re in the mood for Persian food, you’re better off going to another Persian restaurant. But if you’re in the mood for some pretty decent Italian food, we’d recommend this place, well mainly the specific dishes mentioned, and of course the Pizza Fries!

Every Friday at InMotion Hosting, the west coast office employees get to choose where to order lunch (thanks to Todd and Sunil by the way)!

For the first official installment of IMH Foodie Fridays at our new Howard Hughes Center location, we chose the nearby Hangar19 mesquite grill. They specialize in gourmet grilled sandwiches and American side dishes, such as BBQ baked beans, garlic mashed potatoes and the more elaborate jalapeno corn pudding.

The majority of employees gave this place an average rating of 2 out of a 1 to 3 scale. Being that the order was delivered, the food temperature was a bit lower than desired. With mixed reviews among employees, there were some winners out of the menu selection, such as the Pulled Pork Sandwich and Mesquite Grilled Shrimp Plate with Thai Grill Sauce, and sides such as the Grilled Broccolini w/ Lemonzest and the Natural Cut French Fries. However, the most disappointing item among employees was the H19 Mac And Cheese, which tastes more like dry breadcrumbs and bland processed cheese. Overall, we’d recommend this place, but don’t get delivery if you don’t mind cold food and get your mac and cheese on elsewhere. In addition, every dish that claimed to be spicy was too mild for our tastes, so make sure to pack your own Cholula!